Hummingbird is finished! Woohoo!!!

Hi folks

I'm so pleased that I have been somewhat productive lately. My latest ufo project in my finish list is now completed!

BEFORE

AFTER

Part of the reason why Hummingbird was an UFO was because I did not measure enough fabric for the rest of the tail. I therefore had to modify it a little bit to fit. Having said that, I kinda like my version better! Here is the original:

So she is my #4 finish in the list so far! I'm so excited to move on my next project in the list: SK Caffeine by Spangler (HAED)

Here how is should looks like

And here how is my start

The reason this one was an UFO was because I did not like the choice of fabric (28 count Monaco white). Though it gives very good coverage for tent stitch, the fabric is somewhat too stiff. Stitching on it giving me an impression of sawing through a card board LOL.  Does anyone have any tips working on this fabric? I use needle size 28 and millennium frame. Thanks so much in advance!

xoxo

Happy New Year 2016!

Happy New Year folks!


May this year will bring you lots of love, health and stitching pleasure!

I must say I have had a quality stitching time taking advantage of my holiday break :D I sticked 90% to my no new start rule and to date, I have conquered 3 UFOs -> 3 Finishes.

1. Ladybug and Daisy by Ajisai Press

BEFORE

AFTER

2. Come said the wind by Glendon Place. Stitched on 32 count Wexford linen "Autumn Sunrise" by Silkweaver. Substituted original threads with Fiberlicious Spun Silks: Bordeaux, Fern Hollow and Bountiful Harvest. The poem was stitched in Sparkling silks that I dyed cause we can't live without Sparkles. I also added Mill hill beads in metallic gold and chartreuse. 

BEFORE

AFTER

3. Three little girls by Boidere. I stitched this piece on a hand dyed fabric 28 count Opal lugana and finished it into a pillow

BEFORE

AFTER

That is to say I have hit my first goal of finishing 3/10 UFOs in my current list. As you might recall in my previous post, I mentioned that for every finish, I will pull in 1 new ufo/wips to replace. And for every 3 finishes, I can reward myself a new start. However, after thinking carefully, I decided that for every 3 finishes, i will pull in 1 ufo/wips to work on in stead because I want to keep my rotation in low number to spend more time on one of my fully stitched chart. If I ever have a new start, it should not be any large one, unless i have accomplished at least 30% of my current ufos/wips. So now that I have 3 finishes, I add one of my ufo into the rotation list, which is The Green Gate by Stephanie Mun Law

I chose this one because I am a big fan of Mun Law and I really want to have one fully stitched finish in 2016. In addition, this chart's size is 400 x 299, which is considered a medium size in my experience so I categorized it as "finish-able" pattern LOL. Green Gate will be my rotation throughout the year. I really want to get on this now but I still have to stick to my original list, so my next project to finish is "Hummingbird" by Paine Free Crafts. 

This was my UFO in late 2014. The reason I left it behind was because I did not leave enough space on the left side for the tail. I really do not want to frog everything out so I decided that i will modify the tail a bit to fit and then I will make it into a nice pillow :D

So that's pretty much my achievement and goal so far! Hope you guys enjoy it and see you next time!

xoxo

Update Come said the wind by Glendon Place

Hi peeps

So you guys might know I have been working on "Come said the wind" by Glendon Place. It's a fairly big chart with 10 pages in total. Here is how it looks like originally

Here is how it looked like in my previous post. It was one of my UFO since 2014

I have stitched further along with the vines on the left but I realized I did not like how the colors changed, which was too stripy and busy. Also too many warm colors in one place so I decided to frogged everything out and started all over again. I changed the color of the vines to a cooler green with a hint of brown and here is my progress to date:

 I feel much better with the result! What do you guys think?

I hope to finish this by the end of the year, however, as this piece is fairly big and with all the hassle of Christmas season, I'm not 100% positive LOL. Having said that, I'm trying my best to stick to the original plan and no new start until I have 3 finishes. Right now I am jotting down ideas for New Year Resolution. Do you guys have one? I'd love to hear!

Happy stitching everyone!

Challenge #1 completed! Daisy and Ladybug is finished! And my next goal is...

Hi folks

So a few days ago, I posted a blog where I listed out top 10 projects I would like to finish within this year and next year. My goal is to start stitching from stash and complete my long list of Wips and UFO. Daisy and Ladybug by Ajisai Press was one of them. I took picture of my progress each day, started from Tuesday this week. Here is the summary

Tues, started day

Saturday

Sunday and it's finished!

So I have finished it within 6 days! I must say I did have my butt sticked on the chair LOL. The blackwork background is rather crowded, much more crowded than you see. However, overall I think it's a great pattern and a joy when you look at it. I did change the recommended flosses to silks and changed the eyes of the ladybug from cross stitch to pearl beads. During last Black Friday sale at Joann's, I bought a frame for this piece at only $7! (woohoo) and look forward to frame it soon!

So next in my To Finish List is Come said the wind by Glendon Place. Here is a snapshot of my current wip and the original design next to it 

As soon as I loaded this project on the frame, I realized the reason why it was an ufo since last year! I need to do a major frog battle LOL. So I will spend tonight frogging and hopefully I can start working on it tmr. My goal is to finish this before December ends!

xoxo

Whip the WIPS Schedule

Hi folks

Last month and the past few weeks were my most busiest time of the year yet. Things are slowing down and I finally managed to sit down to do some stitching. Can you imagine I did not put a single stitch for more than 30 days lol. Yup I know it sounds pathetic!!!

Something is not right. And I realized, for a year now, I have been stitching without a concrete plan. I used to set a goal for each project, for example a page finish before moving on to my next rotation. That goal is no longer existed due to my work schedule and my chaotic growing stash and new starts. I came to a point where I hardly know what to stitch and feel guilty if I pick one but not the others. And as a result, I was lost in my own wips and I did not have any stitching done. For a looong time, I keep asking myself why and blamed the stitchy bugs. Now that I find out the reason, I gotta find solution for it. I determined and I know I can do it. I want to go back to being me again.

So, I talked to two close stitch friends of mine, who are very organized and passionate in stitching, about my case in order to find out a plan for myself. They really helped me a lot. First, I have to really limit myself in buying any new charts. New charts will enable me to have new starts. In addition, it means more spending on materials, increasing my confusion in picking up which project to stitch and reducing my time to stitch. I will hardly have any finish and it will definitely make me feel guilty. Also, I think I have more than enough. Second, which is super related to the first, I have to come up with a plan in which I will make a list of the wips I would like to finish first. More finishes = more motivation to move on and feel happy again. I narrowed down a few wips that contains less colors, mostly outline or blackwork/ samplers or small fully stitched pattern. I won't move on to the next without finishing the first on the line.  Here is my list to finish in this order:

1. Daisy and Ladybug by Ajisai Press

2. Come Said The Wind by Glendon Place

3. Silhouette Dimensions de dessin by Broderic

4. Hummingbird by Paine Free Crafts

5. Autumn Owl by Love Thy Thread

6. Effects of Caffein by HAED (Fully stitched SK)

7. Bird and Flowers by Gecko Rouge

8. Guardian of the Koi by Love Thy Thread (epic large outline chart LOL)

9. Bettina Bunny by Gecko Rouge (fully stitched Mini)

10. Learning Sampler by Northern Expression Needlework (large specialty stitches)

For each finish, I will add in the finish list another wip. For every 3-4 finishes, I will reward myself by starting a new small/medium project. By saying that, I would like to stick to the plan of 70% finish and 30% new start. I put my gears together and determine to do it!

Start from today with Daisy and Ladybug! Please help me reach my goal !!!

This is my start:

xoxo

Not much update on stitching but...

Hi folks

So it's finally Autumn here in New Jersey. Chilly weather, freezing cold wind and falling leaves...The only season after Spring that I always look forward to. Some of you might not know that winter in where I live lasts nearly 5 months, we only have about 1 month each for Spring and Autumn which is incredibly short. So I really want to enjoy while it lasts, a cup of tea, cookies and a good book/stitching session. While my current job is rather busy, 16 working hours daily and almost no weekend, I still try to find time somewhere to put a few stitch and explore new crafty hobbies LOL (oh and did I mention that I finally have a website? It's www.fiberliciousyummyfibers.com in case you want to take a look!)

I recently hooked up with Sculpting and working with Beeswax and Clay. I'm still a beginner and learning baby step but I'm so proud that I did give a try. That is to say, hey people, don't assume that you cannot do A or B, just do it!

So here is my first few attempts at Clay and Mix medias on a sewing case. I learnt a lot of blending gradation colors and textures.

I also attempted to sculpture beeswax, which will be eventually used to condition naughty threads

and a few other blingy needle cases that I made when I had spare time

I also had several exciting chart hauls last month and most likely I will have another post about it!

Hope you guys have a wonder stitching time!

xoxo

Can't believe I have been disappeared for 5 months!

Hi folks

How are you all doing? Again, many apologies for my absence. I wish I could tell you guys what's going on in my life. Pretend to be happy when you're not is just tiring. But hey, forget about all the sadness and ramblings. I am back! (terminator ver 2015 LOL)

So I haven't been stitching much and as far as I can remember, I only had a few finishes. Sadly, my only laptop was crashed last month and all of my pics gone for good. I attached here a few pics that I can find in my phone, but I remember having more LOL

Sullenly Sweet by Sheena Pike (Love Thy Threads Designs)
Finished on May 7

I had another finish that I was so proud of. This is my first time ever use speciality stitches and I absolutely adored it. I have learnt so much during 5 days of stitching.

Birthstone -January by Northern Expression Needlworks.
I used Garnet silks by Fiberlicious. 

As you can see, besides specialty stitches, this chart contains
number of beads and swarovski. It's extremely blingy outside!

This is the last two finishes I could find in my phone lol

Remember this pretty? It's finally finished! It's a small design but I 

have no idea why it took me so long to complete it. I ran out of threads

in the last minutes so I had to change the colors in the center a bit.

But hey, doesn't it still look ok? I substituted the recommended threads 

with Fiberlicious cottons.

Heart and Butterfly by Love Thy Threads Designs
This is not exactly a finish as I ran out of thread (again)
while trying to stitch the last swirl but after pulling in and out,
I think it looks good as it is!
I used hand dyed thread in African Violet by Fiberlicious

I had many new starts as always, but for God's sake i can't remember how many and after coming back home from a long trip, I don't know where all of them lol. For your reference, this is a pic of my wips i took 3 months ago

I think since this date, I started another 6 lol

Learning Samplers by Northern Expression Needleworks
I changed the colors to blue. Because I love blues LOL

This is the original pattern
(credit: SBB)

And a few fully stitched which I don't have pics with me but now here are what I'm working on

Ever After by Jessilyn Park (kit from Gecko Rouge)

The Green Gate by Stephanie Mun-Law (HAED)

A Storm inside by Emily Luella (Gecko Rouge)

There are many more I want to stitch before I leave this world so probably in the next few days you guys will see me go nuts with new starts. I know many of you will question why I don't focus on finishing one project before moving on to another. I was used to question that myself too. And I got too stressful. I finally found my answer, new start is my therapy LOL. It makes me feel happy. So it doesn't matter if I finish them all or not, as long as I feel happy in my little stitching corner. Life has already given me too much pressures, why would I want to put it on my hobby? It's supposed to be fun and stress free :-) 

So guys let me know what you think! Meanwhile I will surf around your blogs and leave some sparkles LOL

xoxo

Gwen